Shokri Ghanem, the man in charge of Libya's highly corrupt oil industry during the last five years of Gaddafi's rule, was found dead yesterday – floating in the river Danube near his home in Vienna. His family have suggested that he fell in the river after suffering a heart attack, though foul play has not yet been ruled out.
Either way, his death will make it more difficult to uncover the whole truth about a series of oil-related scandals in Libya – including the unfolding Ras Lanuf refinery affair which I wrote about here just a few hours before Ghanem died.
Though Libya under Gaddafi was officially a "people's" state, its oil industry provided a wealth of opportunities for individuals and companies to cream off money that rightfully belonged to the people. For five years Ghanem was in charge of that industry, and whether or not he personally benefited from the corruption, he probably had more knowledge than anyone else of what was going on – so much so that on one occasion he expressed fears for the safety of himself and his family.
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